WVTC

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Equipment in WVTC's office, including a Crown 250 watt transmitter.
Equipment in WVTC's office, including a Crown 250 watt transmitter.
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WVTC is the radio station of Vermont Technical College, operating on the 90.7 FM frequency with a radiated power of 300 watts. The station is located in Morey Hall on the Vermont Technical College Randolph Center, Vermont campus. The station is officially run by the VTC Radio Club. Students may sign-up as DJs, and showtimes vary during the daytime. At night and during the summer the station runs a custom written audio management application known as 'Auto' (short for Automation), which utilizes Perl 5.8, mpg123, and PostgreSQL.

'Auto' was originally designed by brothers Scott and Bill McGrath while students at the college. The system replaced other incarnations including a 100 cd jukebox, and a custom Winamp module. Later major database upgrades were integrated by Sam Colwell, and later minor revisions by Vince Giffin and Stan Brinkerhoff. Visitors are allowed to select music from a searchable library of songs and request them for play on the air like a jukebox.

Contents

[edit] Timeline

  • 1961 - A small pirate radio station is reported to have begun broadcasting on the Randolph Center campus of Vermont Technical College
  • 1965 - The VTC yearbook distinguishes between the Radio Club and the Radio Station WVTC-AM 540.
  • 1966 - A new dorm building, Morey Hall, is erected at the Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center that includes provisions for a campus radio station.
  • 1967 - The radio station moves into its new home at Morey Hall.
  • 1968 - The Radio station applies for and receives a license from the FCC to broadcast as WVTC-FM at 90.7 MHz and 100 watts.
  • 1970s - The station prospers.
  • 1980s - Howard Ginsberg is involved with the station. He would later continue in radio with the founding of WXXX, a successful commercial Top 40 station in Burlington, VT. WVTC is granted a 300 watt license. The station continues to prosper.
  • 1990s - WVTC migrates to CD technology.
  • 1995 - The station is off the air during the summer months due to FCC violations.
  • 1996 - Many upgrades are performed, including new studio and broadcasting equipment. Early concepts for station automation are explored.
  • 1997 - Internet webcasting begins, streaming both music and webcam images.
    • - MP3s are introduced as an on-air medium.
    • - WVTC gets a new tower and antenna.
    • - WVTC successfully navigates the relicensing process with the FCC.
  • 1998 - The WebDJ automation system goes live and SCA technology is explored. WVTC broadcasts 24/7 for the first time.
    • - WVTC ranks in the broadcast ratings for Central Vermont
  • 1999 - The club booms with 80+ club members.
  • 2000 - WVTC remains unaffected and on the air during the Y2K rollover.
  • 2001 - MP3 music replaces CDs as the station's primary audio storage format.
  • 2006 - A dark time for the station as club membership is scarce. The station goes off the air due to transmitter problems during the summer but returns after repairs are made in the fall.
  • Spring 2007 - A small group of students band together, showing enough interest to prevent the school administration from shutting down WVTC. Some hardware and software upgrades are performed in the spring and a couple of regular shows are broadcast.
  • Fall 2007 - WVTC was forced to shut down when their FCC license failed to be renewed by the college. Shortly afterward, the college was approached by Vermont Public Radio with proposals to lease the station, which were not accepted.

[edit] WebDJ Automation

WVTC uses an internally developed system that allows users to request songs from its MP3 library through their webpage. The system allows searching for music by artist and title, and then will queue requests in a first-come-first-play queue. Restrictions prevent songs from repeating within a 2-hour span of time and a user is only allowed to request 5 songs to prevent monopolizing of the station's broadcast.

[edit] Internet Broadcast

WVTC was the first station in Vermont to offer an internet stream of its transmission. Alumni from as far away as California have called in to say that they still listen to the stream and take advantage of the WebDJ request system.

[edit] Notable Events

  • "Disco" Vince Giffin set a record for continuous DJing in March of 2000 with a duration of 73 hours. The record has since been beaten.

[edit] Interruptions

  • The station has experienced a couple of long-term outages. From April until November of 1995, transmission was ceased since the station could not operate in compliance with FCC rules.
  • During the summer months of 2006 transmission was interrupted by a fault in the site's transmitter unit.
  • Beginning in fall 2007 until present, transmission was ceased due to a failure in renewing the station's FCC license.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Vermont college radio stations

WBTN (Southern Vermont College) •  WGDR (Goddard College) •  WIUV (Castleton State College) •  WNUB (Norwich University) •  WRMC (Middlebury College) •  WRUV (University of Vermont) •  WVTC (Vermont Technical College) •  WWLR (Lyndon State College) •  WWPV (St. Michael's College) •